In July 2022, the jewelry designer Terry Castro was riding a wave of high-profile successes.
The designer, whose collection sold under the name Castro NYC, had been tapped for a collaboration with De Beers; several of his creations had been chosen for Sotheby’s “Brilliant & Black” exhibition, a 2021 show spotlighting the work of Black jewelry designers; he had cultivated a following of collectors; and, according to his son, Sir King Castro, he had recently sold a piece for more than $100,000. All of which were reasons that his sudden death from a heart attack at age 50 seemed particularly cruel, threatening the legacy of an independent designer who had recently hit his stride.
But Sir King Castro, who, at 24, now leads Castro NYC, has set a course for the future. One of their first moves (Sir King uses they/them pronouns) was securing a retrospective exhibition, to be presented in collaboration with Carpenters Workshop Gallery at its London location from Oct. 8 to Jan. 11. It will be just the second time the gallery, whose expertise encompasses art and design, has mounted a retrospective dedicated to a jewelry designer.
Working together had been a consistent feature of the father-son relationship. After the designer and his wife, Belinda, divorced, Sir King would spend summers in New York City with Castro, as father was known, lending a hand. “I would saw sprues off of things, solder stuff, send emails,” Sir King said.
The less-than-glamorous introduction to jewelry didn’t inspire Sir King to pursue the family business: “It seemed hard; I saw how much my dad worked at everything — it was intense.”
And Sir King had other ambitions. “I always wanted to be an artist. When I went to college, I was doing theater; I wanted to be an actor.”
But after leaving college, in 2021 Sir King joined Castro in Istanbul, where the designer had relocated in 2016. “I was more of a formal apprentice at that time,” Sir King said of the experience. “I was training with my dad, but I also got to meet all these other master jewelers. In jewelry, nobody teaches you anything. You just have to sit there and watch, so that’s what I did.”
Sir King also learned that Castro was kind of a big deal in the jewelry universe: “I didn’t realize it until one day I saw a Forbes article about my dad.”
And during his time in Istanbul, Castro “was finally starting to enjoy the fruits of his labors,” Sir King said. “He was coming into the feeling of being recognized, his work being appreciated, and getting paid for it, too.”
Immediately after Castro’s death, Sir King was initially unsure what to do, but decided it was important to collect pieces that were in the hands of galleries and retailers: “The pieces were scattered all around the world. I had to get them all back. That took months.”
With time, Sir King realized there was a bounty of materials to keep Castro NYC going, and to form the backbone of a retrospective. “The greatest thing about my dad — he saved everything, everything,” they said. “So I’m thankful I have all his sketches, from 2004 to 2021. I have all my dad’s tools as well. It makes me feel very connected to him.”
From a practical perspective, it is a boon to have a designer’s materials, according to Sharon Novak, a curatorial adviser based in New York with a doctorate in operations management, whose clients include collectors, museums and jewelry houses. “Wherever possible, anyone responsible for sustaining a brand’s legacy should keep good records of everything: every drawing, images from the final production of pieces, records of client lists and exhibitions,” she said. “All of those things create a guide to understanding the work on the original designer’s terms.
“And they’re all elements of creating an archive, which is critical to authenticating a jeweler’s work. Castro’s career was so wild and quick that he produced relatively few pieces. He could be vulnerable to copying without those tools in place.”
More than 40 pieces of jewelry, some lent by collectors, are to be included in the exhibition. A limited number are to be available for purchase, although Sir King said that more than a healthy checkbook would be needed. “We’ll be screening people. We want to be sure the pieces go to a good home,” they said.
Meeling Wong of the jewelry business consultancy Meeling Wong & Associates in New York City said it makes sense to be protective. “The pieces Castro made — they’ve got his energy — in a way, they’re priceless,” she said.
As has happened with many artists, Castro’s work has commanded higher prices since his death. “The work of Terry Castro is finally getting the recognition it always deserved, and with that comes an increased demand for each unique piece,” said Tamara Platisa, the head of jewelry for the Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s five locations. “Furthermore, only 35 pieces were created per year.”
The exhibition’s sales pieces are to include a handful of gem-set lock pendants, at $8,000 to $20,600 (in 2021, an article in the Financial Times included a Castro lock set with gray diamonds and sapphire at $2,250). The exhibition also is to feature a pair of earrings, each resembling a ram’s horn in aluminum, sterling silver and gold, set with a mix of royal purple amethyst, zircon and antique diamonds, at $120,600.
The piece that many consider Castro’s masterwork, the Falcon Crest necklace featuring an antique bisque winged doll pendant set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls, is to be displayed, too. It had been priced at $287,500 during the Sotheby’s show, but now is to remain in the Castro NYC collection.
Three new pieces — the Terry Berry Brooch, Bunny Doll Brooch and Flying Monkey Pendant — conceived by Castro and finished by Sir King, also are to be offered, along with some petite earrings and pendants that were cast, after Castro’s death, from animal skull molds the designer himself had made.
Sir King has continued to work with the same artisans that Castro did, which the curatorial expert Dr. Novak said was a wise approach. “It is helpful when a maison maintains its same processes, remaining faithful to the same standards as during the founder’s time,” she said. “Verdura is the first name that comes to mind in that respect.
“The current owners work with the same artisans — to the extent possible — that Fulco di Verdura did in his time. Clients and collectors love to feel like they are getting something consistent with the original artist’s vision.”
Sir King also plans to bring new elements to Castro NYC: “My dad was very inspired by Africa, West African culture, which is where our ancestry is from — specifically Nigeria and Benin — but I’m Afro Mexican, I’m mixed. I have a lot of culture currently not part of the studio DNA I want to bring into the work.”
So the collaboration between father and son is to continue. “I want to honor my father,” Sir King said. “I wasn’t sure if this was something I could do at first, but I feel confident now.”
The post A Son Cares for a Father’s Legacy in Jewelry appeared first on New York Times.